Every Tale Is A Tragedy
by Katmandu1980
Summary: On their way back to Storybrooke, Neal decides to finally talk to Hook about some things.


"Hey." Neal's voice seemed to echo on the empty ship. Everyone was below deck, sleeping. The first real sleep any of them had had since they arrived in this cursed place. Captain Hook, ever the gentleman (and still reeling from the caffeine pills Regina gave him when he almost collapsed earlier) volunteered to stay awake to steer them out of Neverland and towards home. At least he thought everyone was asleep.

"Can't sleep?" Hook asked, still trying to figure out if his body wanted to pass out or run laps around the ship. He wasn't sure what caffeine was, but apparently it made him want to do things. He settled for tapping a beat against the wheel with his hook.

"No. Not really." Neal looked down at the tapping hook. "Regina gave you No-Doz, didn't she?"

"Is that what that was?"

"Yeah. A little word of advice, since you're a newbie: when its time for you to go to sleep, try drinking. It'll calm you down."

"Thanks, mate. So, is that what you came up here for? To see if I need help falling asleep?"

Neal smiled, and Hook could have sworn that there was something almost friendly about it. "As much fun as it is to see you morph into the Energizer Bunny, I actually came up here to talk to you."

Hook frowned. "About Emma?"

Neal stopped smiling, but there was nothing threatening or even remotely angry on his face. He just looked tired. "Yeah, about Emma."

Hook sighed, not really wanting to go there with him tonight. But he owed it to him. If it wasn't for him, Baelfire could have grown up with a mom and a dad who wasn't the Dark One. He could have had a family.

"What about her?"

Neal looked out at the clouds, and Hook could tell this was difficult for him. "You really do love her, don't you? You're not just doing this to get in her pants?"

Hook looked down. This was going to hurt the boy, no man, and he didn't want to do it. But he deserved the truth. "Aye, I do. Although, I'm not sure what you mean by getting in her pants. She's a lot smaller than me. I don't think they'd fit."

Neal laughed. "Nevermind. It's an expression from Emma's world and I don't want to be the one to explain it to her. " His face sobered up. "And my mom? You loved her enough to try to avenge her death? For three hundred years?"

Hook bit his lip, trying his best to hold it together. It was like Neal had found every single open wound on his heart and proceeded to pour alcohol on them. "I did. I meant what I said. We were going to go get you, as soon as you were old enough. We wanted to be a family."

Neal finally looked over at him and smiled sadly. "You really do make it hard for the rest of mankind to compete with you, you know?" He frowned, not exactly sure what he meant by that. "Nevermind. Just know that I paid you a compliment and leave it at that."

Neal started to walk away, but Hook grabbed his arm. He realized something while talking to him, something he'd probably always realized but never took the time to really examine. Neal could have been his son. If the Dark One hadn't killed his love, if he hadn't sold him out to the bloody lost boys.. He could have raised him. All of a sudden he realized that it didn't matter what happened to him. He wanted to see Neal happy. He wanted to see Emma happy. And if their happy ending was together... he would not be the one to stand in the way.

"Bae, I mean Neal. If you love her, I won't stand in the way. I won't fight you for her."

"You would do that? Why?"

"Because your happiness is more important than my own."

Neal looked down at the hand still hanging onto his arm. A sad smile crossed his face.

"I have to admit, we would have made a hell of a team," Neal said sadly. He then looked up, a determined look on his face. "But listen. You are not going to play a martyr right now. As much as I hate to say it, its not our choice to make. It's Emma's. She could choose you, she could choose me. Hell, she could tell us both to go fuck ourselves. And no matter what she chooses, we're going to have to live with that. Even if it hurts. I had many chances to make things right with her and I fucked it up. I've seen the way she looks at you sometimes. Don't be a coward like I was. If she chooses you, then you better do everything in your power to make her happy."

He wasn't sure what to do. Neal was pretty much telling him that if Emma did want to be with him, he'd be okay with that. He decided to fall back on the old faithful: act like a complete twat. "Or what?" he grinned cheekily.

"Or you'd have me, Charming, and Snow coming after you. And it won't end pretty."

Hook's cheeky grin turned into a genuine smile. "Thanks, mate. And the same goes for you, if she chooses you."

Neal nodded and looked around. "Do you ever wonder what life would be like if our lives weren't like this? All of us have tragic stories to tell. Would any of us know eachother if we had grown up in normal families?"

"Considering the bloody ridiculous differences in our ages, I would reckon not."

Neal nodded, almost sadly. "I guess, in a way, our pain is a good thing. It turned a bunch of misfits into a family."

**Author's Note: I kind of NEED this. I'm ridiculously, head over heels in love with Captain Swan. But there's a part of me that mourns the Baelfire and Captain Hook family dynamic. I want this to be addressed on the show. Hook was willing to change to become a father figure to Bae. I can't imagine him knowingly doing something that would potentially hurt the man that he wanted to raise as his own son. My ideal solution would be for Captain Swan to exist with Neal's permission and/or acceptance. I would love to see Neal and Hook become friends and try to heal their relationship with one another (but they won't because they're men and men are idiots). I also wasn't sure what to title it, so I just randomly picked something. **


End file.
